Our invention relates to an apparatus for use in simultaneously mounting a set of chips, by which we mean small electronic circuit components having no leads, on a printed circuit board (PCB). The chip mounting apparatus of our invention particularly features suction head means well adapted for mounting different sets of chips in different positions on different PCBs.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-152698, laid open Aug. 31, 1984, represents an example of known chip mounting apparatus employing suction heads. Usually, in apparatus of this type, the suction heads are used in combination with a template on which a set of chips are prearranged in a desired pattern in which they are to be mounted on a PCB. The suction heads are brought into contact with the respective chips on the template. Attached to the suction heads by a partial vacuum created therein, the chips are thereby simultaneously transferred from the template to, and deposited on, the PCB.
We object to the known chip mounting apparatus because of the lack of adaptability for different arrangements of chips on different PCBs. The prior art apparatus has required the use of a different suction head assembly and a different template for each different chip arrangement and, in some instances, for each different shape or size of chips. The provision of completely different suction head assemblies and different templates for numerous possible chip arrangements is, of course, undesirable by reasons of the great expenses involved, of the large spaces required for holding them in stock, and of the time and labor needed for each change from one to another.